phoenix right at the intersection of manor road and the pike. more problems on 695 where we're dealing with a crash on the inner loop at loch raven boulevard. in parkville, you'll notice traffic is certainly starting to pick up but this accident has been moved to the shoulder. average speed on the inner loop clocking in at 50 miles per hour. if you are traveling the outer loop, it's going to take you just 12 minutes from 95 up to 83. it's really going to slow down on the west side of the beltway. here's a live look at baltimore national pike. you're looking at a three- minute delay right now on the outer loop from 795 down to 70 but the average speed clocking in at just 33 miles per hour. that's a look at your abc2 timesaver traffic. megan and charlie, over to you. breaking news from the vatican to pass along you to this morning. multiple sources are confirming pope benedict xvi has announced he is resigning from his post. this is going to happen on february 28. this has never happened in the 600 years of the papacy.

>> the 85-year-old has announced he's stepping down the end of the month. he took over after the death of pope benedict xvi on april 19, 2005. in an address to the cardinals he said, quote, this is a decision of great importance for the life of the church. again he said understanding what was required as being pope was something he was physically unable to continue doing the first time in 600 years. >> you may remember the pope recently joined things like twitter. we do want to encourage you to follow us as we begin to follow this story because it's breaking news and again coming down this morning, a lot of you wondering why. he says it's because he's tired. he's 85 years old. we'll update the story and abc news will pick it up once we're off the air. just a reminder you can find the latest updates on abc2news.com and follow us at abc2 news on twitter. the 14-year-old boy accused of killing his 7-month-old sister while his mother was at work will be in court.

the children's mother left for work thursday night leaving the boy to watch his baby sister at their home in silver spring. police say he admitted to beating his sister when she started crying. he then tells police that he held her nose and her mouth until she stopped crying. the mother tried to wake the infant the next morning but the baby was unresponsive. >> she never even had a chance at life. it's a shame. and now it's really two lives taken away because the 14-year- old just lost his life too. >> he is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder. a memorial service today remembering those who lost their lives to domestic violence. they'll also celebrate the survivors and focus attention on changing laws to reduce domestic violence and better protect vehicle sims. the 25th annual domestic violence memorial service will take place from 7:00 to 8:00 tonight in the legislative services building in annapolis. events will include remarks from a domestic violence survivor. a man serving life in prison was found dead in his

cell and murder charges are pending against a fellow inmate. it happened in the north branch correctional institution. ricky bailey was body was found saturday afternoon. he was convicted for a 1991 rape. there's a $1 million reward for the capture and conviction of a renegade expolice officer. this morning police are guarding a home in irvine, california to protect a man they believe has been targeted by that officer. officer christopher dorner is wanted in the deaths of three people and police say he put together a manifesto in which he allegedly names police officers and their families of those that he blames for these firing that happened several years ago. >> we will not tolerate anyone undermining the security, the tranquility of our neighborhoods, and our communities. we will not tolerate this reign of terror that has robbed us of

the peace of mind that residents of southern california deserve. >> dorner, the former officer claims that the lapd's racism cost him his job after he accused a training officer of kicking an elderly man during an arrest back in 2007. chicago detectives are questioning two men described as persons of interest in the deadly shooting of a 15 yearldz girl in a -- 15-year-old girl in a park. the men were taken into custody early sunday. first lady michele obama attended the funeral of that girl on saturday. she was mistakenly shot to death last month just days after performing at president barack obama's inauguration. she was under a tree with some of her friends to get out of the rain when someone shot at the group. this is not the fun-filled cruise they were hoping for. a cardinal cruise ship off the coast of galveston is currently adrift in the gulf of mexico with no power to get to port. there are more than 3,000 passengers on board. they were supposed to be getting home today. but a fire in the engine room

knocked the power out to the ship and it sit ace drift 500 -- sits adrift 5 miles off the coast. a tugboat is expected to ride to start the towing process to get the ship back to shore. they may not get here, though, till wednesday. a huge fire destroyed a home in tennessee and the damage is valued at more than $2 million. the homeowner said they woke up to the smell of smoke. they called 911. the video is incredible. if we can't get it you to on the show, we'll put it on our website abc2news.com. five departments to get it out. we'll have more for like you said on our website. >> this home we've been hearing is a big one, about a million dollar home. we'll show you the video as soon as we get it. time 6:35. the music, the clothes and of course i guess in the end it's about the awards. >> we're talking about the grammys and we're going to take you there. some musicians probably just getting home right now. we'll look at who shined at eight wards.

>> was -- at the awards. >> was that taylor swift? >> taylor swift. watering down the booze. >> we are off to a rainy start. traffic really slowing down on 695 at park heights avenue. there's an accident on the east side of the beltway. i'll have all the details coming up on good morning maryland. awesome! whoooo! you're crazy. go faster! go faster! go faster! go faster! no! stop...stop... (mom) i raised my son to be careful... hi, sweetie. hi, mom. (mom) but just to be safe... i got a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru.

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a huge fire destroying a home in tennessee. the value around $2 million. all three floors, including the basement were fully involved. five fire departments came out. you get an idea of how large the house is by the shot you

just saw. thankfully no one was hurt. 6:39 right now. the music industry celebrated its own with a night of powerful performances. the band fun won for her song of the year. and the black keys were recognized for best rock performance. frank ocean took home a new award this year, best contemporary album and album of the year went to mumford&sons. prince presented the grammy for record of the year. and a collection of performers including elton john made a statement. elton john said that the performance was also in memory for those who were killed at sandy hook elementary. on our abc2 facebook fan page, we asked you to weigh in. if you watched the grammys last night or looking at the

pictures this morning, who do you think was best dressed. because cbs asked to tone it down. >> the code was enforced. some listened, some didn't. let us know what you think. stay with us this morning because we're following breaking news out of the vatican. pope benedict xvi has said he is going to resign. we'll have more on that. we also are going to talk about an important date on your calendar if you're thinking about your taxes. >> those who be wanting to claim the held indication credit -- the education credit will not have to wait anymore. >> maybe you should listen when meteorologists tell you to prepare for record snowfall. hello. the condition hundreds of drivers found themselves in on friday. listen to your meteorologist. >> we are zealing with -- dealing with reduced visibility this morning. we do have fog, rain. i'll tell you when we dry out and when the sun returns coming up. >> fog, rain and accidents. we are following a crash on 695 at loch raven boulevard in

towson. i'll have more on your delays coming up on good morning maryland.

breaking news to get to you involving the pope and the vatican announcement coming out of italy. we'll get to that in a few moments. right to your weather. things you need to know. >> we're dealing with the rain right now and maryland's most powerful radar has been coming down all morning. we're starting to dry out from the west to the east. still plenty of rain around harford county. that's been the county that's been under the moderate rain this morning. aper dean, per -- aberdeen getting in on this. the eastern shore, you're getting in on some of the moderate rainfall. queen anne's county, newman's corner. this will continue throughout the morning and things will start to die down a bit. i'm thinking around 10:00, 11:00 we should be in the clear for the most part. as we check out what's going on in materials of temperatures, they're -- terms of temperatures, they're above average. 35 degrees right now in -- now

in sykesville. breezy conditions this afternoon. then finally we'll start to clear things out as we go through times. we have trouble in baltimore county. we're dealing with a crash in phoenix at the intersection with manorville road. traffic starting to pick up on 695. a crash has been cleared to the inner loop shoulder at loch raven boulevard. average speed clocking in at 46 miles per hour. the outer loop is in good shape. it's going to take you just 15 minutes to travel from 95 up to 83. here's what the west side looks like at old court road. it's really slowing down here. you're looking at an extra ten minutes. it's going to take you to travel the outer loop from 795 down to 70. average speed clocking in at a very low 19 miles per hour. if you are headed out to 95, here's a live look at route 175. traffic mosque right along. you -- moving right along. you'll want to expect congestion on route 295 this morning. the southbound lanes are slow

from route 100 down to route 175. average speed just 26 miles per hour there. that's a look at your abc2 timesaver traffic. over to you. time 6:46. breaking news out of the vatican. a number of sources have now confirmed including the vatican that pope benedict xvi will resign his post effective february 28. bloomberg news says health reasons are what's forcing him to step down. that's actually the statement he gave to vatican cardinals today, the pope did speaking to them in latin. >> the 85-year-old took over the role back in 2005 following the death of pope john paul ii. this is pretty incredible because this has not happened in 600 years. the last time a pope stepped down was back in 1415. so this is certainly something that we don't see often happening with the catholic church. but the pope says he is just too tired to carry on with his papal duties. >> we want to take a live look at what's going on in italy. this is a statement coming out of the vatican. we would take the sound live for you. however, it's coming in through

italian so this has not been translated yet. you'll probably see the translation of this video, megan, coming up a little later on "good morning america." we do want to let you know they're going to cover that story. pope benedict xvi calling his choice, quote, a decision of great importance for the life of the church, unquote. so we will be hearing more about this as the morning goes along. we do want to remind you that you can follow any of the updates of the story with us through twitter along with any breaking news. all you have to do is search abc2 news. you can find our twitter handle. we'll update you on all breaks news. in other news closer to home, going to be a big day in politics for stephanie rawlings- blake preparing to give her state of the city address. this comes amid a bloomy financial outlook for the city, of course after an report from an independent investigator last year said the city could be bankrupt in the next decade. what are we expecting from the mayor today? we have a live preview. >> reporter: baltimore city

mayor stephanie rawlings-blake -- [ no audio ] she's expected to talk agent bit about the $745 million-- >> we are losing sherrie johnson as a result of that. some highlights of what is coming out of the speech. we want to touch first on the report that came out last week reporting the decade toward bankruptcy. the possibility of a $745 million shortfall -- [ no audio ] also last week the mayor announced baltimore city is heading for bankruptcy. the report goes on to say another billion dollars in infrastructure deficits over the next decade. roads, bridges, schools, everything going to be a real problem now so once again the mayor will address all of this coming up today from city hall with the state of the city address. maryland's former first lady wants the top job in anne arundel county. she might put her name in the ring. linda so has the latest details about the plan to run for office. linda, when is she going to

apply for this position and is there any sort of deadline as far as this goes? >> reporter: kendel ehrlich tells abc2 she plans to figure out this week if she has the support of at least four council members. that's what she needs to win the seat. the deadline to apply for the position is this friday. she says the mere fact she's a woman sets her apart. john leopold resigned earlier this month after being found guilty of misconduct while in office. ehrlich wants to restore dignity to anne arundel county for the rest of the term but has no intentions to run for a full term in 2014. >> i just think it's significant that i'm a woman after many things that we've read about the prior administration. i think women in the county would just breathe -- it would be a big breath of fresh air. >> reporter: several other candidates have expressed interest in the position including former senate

candidate dan bongijo, jerry walker, john grasso and delegate cathy vitale. ten minutes away from 7:00 right now. we have a consumer alert for you right now. if you are planning to claim an education credit on your taxes, you have a valentine's date. not a dinner date. february 14 is the first day the i.r.s. will accept returns with form 8863, itself education credit -- the education credit form. the season kicked off on january 30 but the i.r.s. was still updating that system that processes those forms but it will be up and running by valentine's day so keep that in mind. maker's mark now getting a little less boozey. the distiller known for its signature red wax sealed bottles is watering down the bourbon to meet global demand. maker's mark was 45% alcohol by volume. now the company is going to 42% but consumers don't believe the distillery when they say you won't tell the difference.

the company says all of this is for nothing. it's still going to be the same quality bourbon it's always been. 6:51. five things to know on this monday morning. nasa is launching a satellite into space today from california. the mission is to study the surface of the earth and how it is the longest running project right now at nasa. vice president joe biden is heading to philadelphia to hold a round table discussion with law enforcement about the future of gun safety. we're going to learn today just how many recorded shark attacks were happening in 2012. that list is put out every single year by the university of florida. last year there were 47 known shark attacks in the united states. you remember about a month ago we told you the price of gas was going down? well, we were a little premature because now it's going back up. it's gone up a quarter in the past two weeks. the average in maryland right now is 3.59 on gallon on par with the nationwide afternoon. the best of the best are competing today in the

westminster kennel club show. 2700 breeds are in manhattan to see who is the top dog. there are two new breeds. hundreds of people likely regret their decision to ignore the advice of meteorologists and venture out in the show. this was the result. hundreds of cars and trucks stuck along the long island expressway. may began, that is the expressway -- megan, that is the expressway. >> unreal all these cars and trucks stuck in the snow. they outnumbered the tow trucks needed to get them out. they worked to dig out their cars and get along the best they could. this is a public service announcement for your profession. whether the pros say stay home, lynette. >> it happens every time no matter what the weather is. if it's snowing, flooding, people think they can handle it. >> got to get the milk, the toilet paper and the beer. >> i don't know about the last

one. let's talk about what's going on today because we do see this big system. snow to the north. go have severe weather along this frontal boundary to the south. they could be dealing with it again as we go through this afternoon. for today we're in between. once again we're just getting the rain in the mix. and as we go through time, we will have a change in the forecast meaning maybe a little bit of snow. but for right now, we do have that fog out there. the rain is pushing off towards the east. the hardest hitting counties this morning, harford. we are seeing plenty of rain across that area and moderate. so let me take you to bel air where you can see the wet roadways. very slick. dwe have sleet mix -- we did have sleet mixing in earlier. you can see the rainfall totals already about three tenths of an inch in ballston. a quarter in annapolis. we can see more of this adding up as we go through the rest of the morning and then things will get out of here. maybe just isolated showers. here's what's going on at the surface. we still have this cold front

that will move through. ahead of that temperatures will bump up. we look at abc2's future trend and we can see what's going on right now. as we had the rain pushing out and then the next system possibly moving in here. but right now looks like it stays to the south of us. if it does move in, we will have rain-snow possible by wednesday. for today 55 degrees. 31 by tonight and 45 degrees by tomorrow. let's get a check of the timesaver traffic with lauren cook. good morning. good morning. we do have several things you're going to need to watch out for in baltimore city. we have a fall functioning traffic light -- malfunctioning traffic light. you'll want to treat it as a four-way stop and another crash downtown on fayette street at martin luther king, jr. boulevard. if you are in baltimore county, we're following a serious crash in phoenix. you will want to avoid the area if at all possible [ inaudible ] here's a live look at 695. you'll notice a lot of

congestion. an accident right now on the shoulder of the inner loop at loch raven boulevard. average speed clocking in at 43 miles per hour. the outer loop is starting to slow down. it will take you an extra 4 minutes to travel from 95 to 83. conditions are even worse over on the west side of the beltway. you're looking at an extra 12 minutes to travel the outer loop from 795 down to 70. the average speed clocking in at just 27 miles per hour. that's a look at your abc2 traffic. we want you to take a look at this video. 9 yearldz tyson -- 9-year-old tyson was called on to the ice during a hockey game for a chance to win five grand. all he had to do is get the puck through a tiny hole in the net. >> he slipped just as he released the puck and wouldn't you know it it went right through that hole. the crowd went wild. he walked away $5,000 richer. they're wondering dehit it or push it -- did he hit it or push it or whatever.

>> a lot of luck. we'll send you off to abc news where they'll have more on the pope announcing he's stepping down. you can follow us on twitter for more. new honey bunches of oats greek yogurt and whole grain. here we go. honey cornflakes and chunks of greek yogurt. i'm tasting both the yogurt and the honey at the same time. i'm like digging this yogurt thing. i feel healthy.

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